THIS invention relates to a golf practice apparatus, and more particularly, to practice apparatus with which a user can practice his or her chipping.
Golf nets are well known and are used by golfers to practice their swings. Such nets are generally adapted to absorb impact of a firmly struck golf ball to thereby retain the golf ball and prevent it causing damage or becoming lost in confined or built-up areas.
A problem with conventional golf nets is that a user has no real way of knowing how the ball will travel or fly after it has been struck. As any golfer will know, a golf ball struck with any lateral spin will tend to veer off to the left or right resulting in a ball which has apparently been well struck ending up way off the intended line of flight.
Many persons who would like to practice golf have insufficient space to enable them to practice relatively short golf shots such as would be used, in a game, to chip onto the golf green from adjacent areas. Chipping is, of course, an important feature of the game golf and the player who can chip well will generally score well. In order to practice chipping a player needs to be able to see the flight of the ball after it has been struck so that distance and accuracy of chips can be gauged. Prior art catch-net type practice devices are not capable of providing this visual feedback to the practising golfer in any meaningful way.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,939 discloses a complex clip and putting apparatus which is suitable for permanent installation in a golf practice facility, but is unsuitable for a golfer who wishes to practice chip shots at his or her local park or sports field with a minimum of fuss. The apparatus shown in that patent is also costly and accordingly unsuitable for single home practice usage.